My diagnosis with Parkinson's Disease in September 2009 at age 80 gave my life a new focus and challenge. Finding ways to meet this challenge helped make 2010 the best year of my life. I hope this blog will be a place where I can connect with others who also are dealing with aging and its afflictions and attractions so that we can share our "experience, strength and hope."

June 15, 2011

How I Lost Five Pounds in Seven Days!

I know. I sound like one of those stupid weight loss TV commercials. But I believe this drop resulted from following two basic precepts for healthy aging:

Precept 1: Constantly Monitor Meds for Possible Side EffectsI've finally realized that meds can sometimes adversely affect my health. This year, I discovered that my favorite over-the-counter supplement, 5-HTP, could lead to frightening blood pressure spikes when I increased the dosage. Blood pressure med ramipril caused a chronic cough that plagued me for months. And those of us with Parkinson's know all too well that the L-dopa we find so beneficial at first can end up bringing on dyskinesia -- the spasmodic, involuntary movement that people often assume is a symptom of Parkinson's. Actually, it's a side effect of prolonged use of L-dopa.

I mentioned my frustration this year at not experiencing my usual springtime reversal of winter weight gain, even though I was eating less and exercising more. I wondered... had anything else in my routine changed? Yes! I had switched one of my blood pressure meds two months ago from ramipril to isradipine.

My chronic cough disappeared when I abandoned ramipril. I suggested the switch to isradipine when I saw reports that it was being studied for its possible impact on slowing the onset of Parkinson's. Win-win. Seemed like a beneficial switch.

I couldn't get an appointment with my internist until today, but I decided to experiment by stopping isradipine last week so that I could report any observations to my doctor. When I saw him this afternoon, he agreed that I should discontinue isradipine. While I'd first been encouraged by those reports that the drug might slow the onset of Parkinson's, I realized there might be no benefit for me -- a person who already HAS Parkinson's. And it might very well be playing a part in my weight gain. My internist and I agreed: let's try something else.

He gave me a prescription for losartan (50 mg once at bedtime) and asked me to monitor my blood pressure two or three times a week and send him the results in six weeks. Fair enough.

I've checked it out at the Mayo Clinic site and don't see any problems.

Precept 2: Constantly Look for New Exercise Regimens
As I mentioned in my post last week, I clouded the weight-gain picture by adding another change to my routine: taking walks during that morning hour I'm supposed to wait between my wake-up medication and breakfast.

I've been doing this for over a week now and I'm loving it. When I started, we were experiencing several days of Washington's heat and humidity at their worse. Seven o'clock in the morning was the only time of the day when a walk was tolerable. The last few days we've had unusually low temps and humidity. And I've found the 7 a.m. walk unusually invigorating.

I return home to my breakfast and coffee knowing that I've already scored one major accomplishment.

A week ago the bathroom scale read 167. This morning it was 162. Onward and downward!

A Healthline Best!

“John Schappi was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2009, at age 80. We love John’s blog because it’s about living life to the fullest — whether that means traveling, going to the ballet, or celebrating the friendships he’s made through Alcoholics Anonymous. He also talks about what products he uses to deal with the side effects of Parkinson’s, such as insomnia, and shares and discusses helpful blog posts and information.” -- Healthline